Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Sells 231 Shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lowered its position in shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 231 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,369,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,178,048,000 after acquiring an additional 104,844 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,329,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,148,586,000 after acquiring an additional 35,161 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,105,314 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,361,064,000 after acquiring an additional 379,631 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,745,648 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,128,544,000 after acquiring an additional 307,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,568,890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,014,287,000 after acquiring an additional 74,974 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.69% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Stock Performance

BlackRock stock traded up $8.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $768.70. 240,193 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 625,053. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $596.18 and a 12 month high of $845.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 3.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $804.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $758.48.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 12th. The asset manager reported $9.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.42 by $0.39. BlackRock had a net margin of 32.26% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The business had revenue of $4.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 41.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on BLK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on BlackRock from $742.00 to $767.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $930.00 price target (up previously from $918.00) on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on BlackRock from $1,013.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on BlackRock from $818.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded BlackRock from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $819.00 to $938.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $845.42.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total value of $353,299.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,691,032.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Stephen Cohen sold 950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $805.55, for a total value of $765,272.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,574,225.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Marc D. Comerchero sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $785.11, for a total transaction of $353,299.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,691,032.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 82,511 shares of company stock valued at $66,778,367 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.